Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of managing the log of a change of state of an electronic device.
Description of the Related Art
There is widely used, among digital devices, a function of acquiring the operation item of a certain operation performed for a digital device and a user who performed the operation in association with each other as a log. For example, a multi-function printer (MFP) identifies a user by login using an IC card or the like, and acquires a log by associating the user with the items of an operation, a change of state, and the like and time information.
A log obtained in this way can be used for system management in a user company. Even if a failure has occurred in a digital device, an associated user can be specified. In addition, a log is transmitted to a cloud and analyzed using a data mining technology. For example, the use state of a user, the maintenance state, and the like are analyzed and used as information to reduce cost in a user company, or provided to a maker and used as information for maintenance prediction and fault prediction or development/improvement of a digital device.
On the other hand, a system that identifies a user using a radio frequency tag has also been devised. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-320033 proposes a communication robot that detects a radio frequency tag on the periphery. More specifically, there is disclosed a technique of causing a robot to identify each user based on a detected radio frequency tag, managing an action history in association with a user, and deciding an action for each user based on the history.
To acquire a log by associating a change of state of a digital device caused by an operation for an outer portion (cover opening/closing, part replacement operation, or the like) of the digital device, the user needs to be identified. However, if a user performs an operation for the digital device without a login operation, the digital device cannot internally identify the user. Examples of an operation executable without a login operation to an MFP are opening/closing of a paper tray, opening/closing of a main body cover, and toner exchange.
When an operation for a digital device is performed, it is possible to detect a terminal (a radio frequency tag or the like) held by a user and store the detection result as a log in association with the operation. In this case, however, a user who is irrelevant to the operation may erroneously be associated.